OneBook, OneFarmington

OneBook, OneFarmington encourages residents of our richly diverse community to connect through a shared reading experience that will stretch our perspectives of the world around us.

The 2017 selection is A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota edited by Sun Yung Shin.

About the bookIn this thought provoking book, 16 of Minnesota's best writers provide a range of perspectives on what it is like to live as a person of color in Minnesota. They give readers the splendid gift of touching another human being's inner reality, behind masks and veils and politeness. They bring us into experiences that we must understand if we are to come together in real relationships.

Minnesota communities struggle with some of the nation's worst racial disparities. As its authors confront and consider the realities that lie beneath the numbers, this book provides an important tool to those who want to be part of closing those gaps.

OneBook, OneFarmington ProgramsThese events celebrate A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota. Activities are free and open to everyone.

Meet the Authors at Farmington High SchoolJoin us for a panel discussion with three of the 16 contributing authors to A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota — Sherry Quan Lee, Shannon Gibney and Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria. The authors will read passages from their essays.

Sherry Quan Lee is a community instructor at Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul and facilitates community workshops at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis and elsewhere. She approaches writing as a community resource and as culturally based art of an ordinary everyday practical aesthetic. Her most recent book, Love Imagined: A Mixed Race Memoir, was a 2015 Minnesota Book Award finalist.

Shannon Gibney

​Shannon Gibney is a writer, activist, professor of English and African diaspora studies at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and the author of See No Color, a young adult novel. Her writing has appeared in Al Jazeera America, The Crisis, Gawker, and other venues. A Bush Artist and McKnight Writing Fellow, she lives with her family in Minneapolis.

​Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria

Rodrigo Sanchez-Chavarria is a writer and spoken word poet of Peruvian heritage involved with Palabristas, a Minnesota-based Latin poets collective. He is a Master of Fine Arts student at Hamline University and writes about fatherhood, the duality of two cultures, and issues pertaining to his community and life experiences.

Book DiscussionDiscuss the book A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota, edited by Sun Yung Shin, a collection of perspectives on what it’s like to live as a person of color in Minnesota by 16 of Minnesota's best writers.

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 1:30–2:30 p.m.Farmington Library

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 7–8 p.m.Farmington Library

Immigration and Human Rights in MinnesotaLearn about the history of immigration law and current human rights advocacy efforts from Michele Garnett McKenzie, an attorney who represents asylum seekers and detained immigrants. Presented by The Advocates for Human Rights.

Tuesday, Oct. 10, 6–8 p.m.Farmington Library

Talking with Children about RaceLearn how to talk with your children about race and culture in America at this family discussion facilitated by Twin Cities writer and community organizer, Isela Xitlali Gómez R.

Saturday, Oct. 14, 2–4 p.m.Farmington Library

An Immigrant’s Story in DanceHear the story of the struggles and hopes of local immigrant and dance artist, Djenane Saint Juste. Includes a performance by members of the Haitian dance company, Afoutayi. A Minnesota Legacy program.

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 6:30–8 p.m.Farmington Library

The celebration of this book is made possible with support from Dakota County Library, the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, Dakota County Library, Dakota Electric, Farmington Area Public Schools, Friends of the Farmington Library.